PAX West IMPRESSIONS: Let It Die

Sunday, September 4th, 2016

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There’s always a couple of games at PAX that you can tell just by looking that they’re a big deal. The way you can tell is they have over the top booths and lines stretched all the way around them. Though there were a couple like that this year, the one that I was privileged enough to demo was Let It Die. In case you’re not familiar with the title, it’s the latest brainchild from the prolific and supremely talented Suda51.

First off, you should know that Let It Die is a PS4 exclusive. I’ve been on the fence with buying a PS4 for a while now, but this might be the game that finally breaks me down and forces me to shell out the cash. Why, you ask? Well, besides the game having that unique Suda51 style and polish, Let It Die is also procedurally generated. Yes, that means every experience is unique. When you factor in the amount of complexity inherent in the game, that’s incredibly impressive.

Those Rage attacks are no joke

The demo starts off with you waking up wearing only your underwear and a gas mask in a derelict facility that looked to be some sort of amusement park gone horribly wrong. Though the first foes I fought were human thugs armed with baseball bats and other brawler weapons, I quickly came upon monstrosities from my deepest, darkest nightmares. You start out armed with nothing other than your fists, but after beating a thug to death, I was able to acquire his baseball bat, and then things got much smoother. While you can totally beat foes with your fisticuffs, weapons typically are much more powerful. They also bring us to a key game mechanic, the Rage attacks. By holding down the triangle button and then attacking, you’ll be enveloped in a blue haze and deal massive amounts of damage. Keep in mind you’re still vulnerable to attack while in Rage mode, so you’ll be forced to time it just right to get maximum effect.

While I’m not all that familiar with PS4 controllers, I was able to quickly pick up on the controls. The touchpad lets you manage and consume various items, while the left joystick moves you around and the right controls the camera. You use the left and right triggers to use weapons in each hand, or to wield one massive two handed weapon, such as the lovely axe I later found when my bat was lost. Though two handed weapons are more cumbersome and slow to wield, they also do a lot more damage, especially when in Rage mode. In fact, using Rage axe attacks was the saving grace for the boss fight at the end of the demo. It’s hard to describe exactly what it was, but it looked like a lumbering behemoth of a man with far too many limbs, eyes gouged out by what looked like satellite dishes and massive hands composed of far too many digits. He attacked by charging bodily or tossing what looked like corpses at me. The trick to beating the foe was to sneak around the arena, since he couldn’t see you, only hear you. Once I was able to get close enough, I let loose a charged axe Rage attack, which swung me around and around several times. This did massive damage to the beast, and a couple attempts finally let me demolish it, which resulted in a mess of goo and fluid. I’m not sure what the boss was exactly, since the demo didn’t contain any story, but I am fascinated to find out.

In the end result, I was very impressed with Let It Die. It is shaping up to be an exclusive well worth owning, and maybe a game to buy a system for. It reminded me of Resident Evil hybridized with No More Heroes, and it was a crazy ride. Make sure to stay tuned to find out more details once it’s closer to release!

About Josh Speer

Josh Speer is addicted to two things in equal measure : Books and Videogames. He has a degree from the University of Washington in English with an emphasis on writing. He joined Operation Rainfall last year while following it on Facebook. His two giant life goals are to write his own series of fantasy / science fiction novels and to get into the creative side of the video game industry. He is beyond pleased to now have his proverbial foot in the door thanks to the opportunity provided by Oprainfall!